Poker Tips - Mike Caro University Poker Strategy

Mike Caro is capping his career as the world's foremost poker authority by launching a school for serious players - Mike Caro University (MCU).

MCU will merge Mike's own research with the collective wisdom of other great poker minds into a one-of-a-kind learning center teaching poker strategy and psychology. In addition to instructional courses, MCU will serve as a central force for popularizing poker, maintaining its integrity and standardizing rules.

If You Want A Call, Make Your Bet Look Large

Mike Caro's Poker Tips
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Advertisers invest a lot of effort making products look more desirable. They put marbles in soup that they photograph to make you want it more. In advertisements, they position cars in settings that will make you want to be there and more likely to buy. Now, you might say that's unnecessary, because people already know how thick famous soup really is and that cars go mostly on everyday streets and park in ugly garages. Still, it's an absolutely irrefutable fact that making products look more appealing gets more sales by appealing to emotion, no matter what the buyer intellectually knows.

It's the same with poker. If you want a call, make your bet seem more attractive. Spread those chips out. Fan your $100 bills if you're in a big game and you place them in the pot. You're selling something here! You're opponent knows how much it will cost to call, but he's emotionally subject to pay or not pay depending on what he's getting for his money. So, if you want a call, make it seem worth calling. Bet with a little fanfare and spread the cash or chips to take maximum territory. It's in the presentation. The more attractive your bet looks, the more likely you will get called.

Don't Rebuy Yet

Mike Caro's Poker Tips
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When you're down to your last few chips and can play for just the cost of the ante or blind, you should often wait to rebuy until after the hand! That's because there are no better pot odds you than to be able to see the showdown for free with everyone else at the table matching your money with their antes.

If it's a blind they're matching, only some will voluntarily call. But, even then, the point is powerful: Other opponents may knock each other out of the competition, while you remain to see the showdown. You'll often arrive at the showdown with hands you couldn't have afforded to call with if you'd had more money. This means you have an extra opportunity to get lucky and "draw out" -- and that's worth enough to defer your rebuy until the next hand.

Late In A No-Limit Tournament -- Moving All-In

Mike Caro's Poker Tips
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It's very late in a no-limit, percentage-payoff poker tournament. You have a huge stack. You should often raise the first short-stack bettor by moving all-in against two or more short stacks behind you with a medium-strong hand. That’s assuming your opponents are rational and there's no player with a big stack waiting to act. They simply cannot call without huge hands, because they need to survive and move up a position. Rational opponents will seldom risk calling with their entire stacks, even when holding strong hands with moderate advantages.This tactic should be almost a routine play for you, under those circumstances.

My Favorite Poker Affirmation

Mike Caro's Poker Tips
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I don't believe in superstition. Neither should you. I don't allow my poker students to be superstitious. And, frankly, I'm not a fan of affirmations. But there is one I've used to end all my poker seminars for 15 years. Let me tell you about it.

Among the worst things you can do at a poker table is complain about bad luck. Complaining doesn't make your opponents sympathetic, it just makes them think, "Hey, there's someone unluckier than I am -- someone I can beat!" When your opponents think you're unlucky, they're often inspired and they play better against you. What you need to do is condition yourself to convey to opponents that you're lucky. There's nothing they fear more than luck, not even skill. The luckier your opponents think you are, the more they will be intimidated and the more they will fall into line and let you manipulate them. Of course, you and I know, that there's no such thing as predictable luck -- good or bad. Luck just happens and we only see it after the fact. Over a very long time, everything is sure to almost even out and luck becomes a non-factor.

But, what I want you to realize is that by complaining about bad luck when it happens, you're helping your opponents and hurting yourself. That's why we say the affirmation at my seminars. It won't change your luck, but it will keep you from feeling unlucky and complaining. The affirmation is: "I am a lucky player. A powerful winning force surrounds me." That "powerful winning force" is probability working in your favor when you play correctly. Over 10,000 players have said the affirmation and many have contacted me to explain how it runs through their head over and over when they're about to complain and keeps them feeling positive. Say it to yourself before you play. I think it will work in your favor.